A legal order banning public drinking, begging, spitting, urinating and public defecation across Rushcliffe is likely to be extended. Rushcliffe Borough Council is to consider extending its public spaces protection order (PSPO) – a legal tool targeting anti-social behaviour.
The order has been in place for the past five years and, since April 2020, the Conservative-led council says 35 incidents have been reported to the police. These included begging, public urination and drinking, fireworks being set off in West Bridgford town centre and abusive behaviour.
Having the PSPO gives powers to the police and council community safety officers to move people on if they commit offences covered by the order. Failure to abide by the order can result in fines of £100 being handed out to offenders.
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However, no fines have been issued since the original PSPO was brought into force in 2017. The council says it has been used as a “useful deterrent to anti-social behaviour”, particularly during the pandemic around Bridgford Park.
But it has led to nine dispersal orders being issued, which the authority says were “mostly in relation to begging and street drinking in West Bridgford”. Now the authority’s full council meeting is to decide whether the order will continue for a further three years and if any changes are needed.
Documents confirm the council plans to remove rough sleeping from the order amid changes in the law nationally around vagrancy. But the authority will continue to target public drinking, begging, spitting, urinating or defecating on public property.
It will also target people who refuse to remove items from public land when asked to do so and people who refuse to leave public locations when asked. The order would cover various locations across the borough, including prominent parts of West Bridgford such as Central Avenue.
Two new areas will be added for cover under the PSPO, which are Lyme Park Pond and Broadstone Close Pond in Compton Acres. Geoff Carpenter is the council’s service manager for neighbourhoods.
In a report, he said: “Ensuring appropriate controls are in place to control antisocial behaviour in the prescribed areas will have a beneficial impact on local residents and visitors’ quality of life. The presence of a PSPO has been considered as a useful deterrent to anti-social behaviours during this time, most notably during the pandemic within and around Bridgford Park.”
If approved during the full council meeting on Thursday (December 1), the new PSPO would become effective on Friday. It follows a consultation held by the council between September and October which found “overwhelming” support for the PSPO.
In responses, 85 per cent of respondents supported a continued ban on street drinking. There was also 93 per cent support for continuing the bans on spitting, urination and defecation on public land or street furniture.
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